What’s behind Juan Thornhill’s decreased playing time?

One year into his NFL career, Juan Thornhill‘s playing time is decreasing for reasons unknown.

Juan Thornhill is, by all accounts, healthy and available. Against the Las Vegas Raiders, in a very important game within the division, the Chiefs played him on a struggling defensive unit for only 11 snaps. And the current trend isn’t looking good for Thornhill.

For reasons unknown, Thornhill is getting less playing time with each passing week—even as he should be getting better and healthier in his second season. One year after the Chiefs looked like they struck gold in the second round of the draft by selecting Thornhill, questions are now being raised as to why the team isn’t even playing him in a clearly needy secondary.

We wouldn’t be asking these questions if two elements were in play:

1. If the Chiefs hadn’t already played Thornhill a ton of reps after he returned from a torn ACL suffered last season.
2. If the Chiefs defense was smothering the Raiders without Thornhill on the field.

Instead, the Chiefs brought Thornhill back during the preseason and worked him in during the first and second game of the season. He went from playing 68 percent of defensive snaps in Week 1 to playing 99 percent in Week 2. In fact, from Week 2 to Week 6, Thornhill never played less than 97 percent of the Chiefs defensive snaps. Yet in Week 7 against the Denver Broncos, something changed. Here’s a closer look:

• Week 1: 38 snaps (64%)
• Week 2: 82 (99%)
• Week 3: 56 (100%)
• Week 4: 73 (97%)
• Week 5: 69 (99%)
• Week 6: 55 (100%)
• Week 7: 52 (68%)
• Week 8: 48 (84%)
• Week 9: 67 (81%)
• Week 11 (Raiders): 11 (19%)

After the game, Chiefs reporters asked head coach Andy Reid about the decreased reps given to Thornhill.

If health was the concern, why play him all of the reps for well over a month? If ability is the concern, then the Chiefs have a major issue.

This only raises red flags about the injury suffered last year. Remember, it was still only 11 months ago that Thornhill tore his ACL. Is he not the same player on the other side? Did the Chiefs push Thornhill too hard? Did something not heal right?

Again, it would be one thing if the switch to give Dan Sorensen starter’s reps led to a dominant night against the Raiders, but instead Derek Carr and company put up 31 points after scoring 40 on the road in K.C. The team’s pass rush was suspect all night, and coverage issues were a problem as well. It’s hard to believe Thornhill wouldn’t have helped a bit more.

Or maybe that’s the problem. Maybe Thornhill has taken a step back. Or maybe the team is sending a message of some kind, a la Todd Haley with Derrick Johnson.

All of this is conjecture, however, and no one outside of Arrowhead knows what is going on. What is clear is that the numbers say something about Thornhill, and no matter what the reason is, it’s not good. A promising second-year safety was supposed to form a long-term tandem with Tyrann Mathieu at the back of the Chiefs defense. Instead, we’re asking why he’s hardly playing at all.